Monster Energy Kawasaki Rider James Stewart Becomes a Phoenix Favorite with Win

PHOENIX -–Monster Energy Kawasaki rider James Stewart took the win
and a share of the points lead during the second round of the Monster
Energy® AMA Supercross, an FIM Championship with an impressive
victory at Chase Field.

After a clean start, Stewart ran a smooth race, leading all 20 laps of the
main event to put his Kawasaki KX™450F on the top step of the podium
for the first time this season. His teammate Timmy Ferry didn’t fare as
well, a rider knocked one of the safety blocks on the track in front of him,
leaving Ferry with no place to go. The veteran recovered to finish 10th.

The Western Regional AMA Supercross Lites race was an action filled
event with the top five riders trading positions throughout the feature.
One of the riders involved in the thrilling duel was Monster Energy/Pro
Circuit/Kawasaki rider Brett Metcalfe who finished on the podium in third.

Monster Energy Kawasaki Under the Tent

Stewart’s wire-to-wire victory was his 25th career supercross win and
though he was challenged early, he was able to pull out to a comfortable
lead later in the race. The win comes on the heels of Stewart running a
tactical race in the season opener after being hit from behind in the first
corner.

“I had a good start and we made it past where we did last weekend so
that was a plus,” said Stewart. “I was definitely pumped going into that
first corner and I knew I didn’t want to tip over. I knew Chad (Reed) was
going to make a charge, that’s what he does and I just let the race come
to me. I think he almost made a pass on me, but I wasn’t too worried, it
is a long race and a long season and we have to be smart about it. I rode
as hard as the track would let me. Every race, every lap it gets tougher
and tougher, but I’m not worried about my endurance. I feel good, I’m
super stoked. I’m happy for everybody at Monster Energy Kawasaki,
this is our first win for Kawasaki in a while and for me it is satisfying. It’s
good to get a solid race under our belt and also a win, it definitely feels
good.”

The layout of the Chase Field track allowed the riders to choose one of
two whoops sections on every lap. The outside line started with three
small jumps followed by the whoops section while the inside line was
just the opposite. It began with a whoops section and closed with three
jumps. During the first practice, the riders experimented with each line
but in the second session, nearly all of the riders stayed to the inside.
Stewart’s fast lap during both practices came by using the inside line
and during the race he continued to use the preferred line until he ran
into lapped traffic.

“With the little berm on the inside line it was definitely getting rough
going into it,” said Stewart. “The toughest part was when you get to
lappers. The outside was obviously slower and I have to thank Mikey
(Williamson) for the timely signal, because I went to the outside to get
around them and he may have got past me if I went to the outside
again.”

For Ferry, the race was more difficult as he got caught at the wrong
place at the wrong time on the opening lap. He was running fourth when
he hit a track block thrown out in front of him, but the veteran
recovered well to finish 10th.

“I think if I could have just moved over two feet or predicted the future,
I would have known what to do,” said Ferry. “I had a good start and was
running near the front when a guy in front of me hit a block and kicked
it out on the track. I didn’t have anywhere to go and I just went down.
There wasn’t much I could do about it.” full story on kawasaki.com
pics from racerxill.com& tedescophoto.com